Forbidden Feats
Those of you who have already made the wise decision to purchase The Book of Forbidden Magic will already know all about how you can cast forbidden spells at the risk of gaining profane points that might cause a calamity to occur. Today’s article will provide you with a handful of feats that give you a similar opportunity, allowing you to gain profane points (with the same risk of calamity) in order to make use of their powerful effects.
Dire Strike
You are obsessed with the lethal power of your attacks and call upon wicked and profane forces to empower you and enable you to kill faster and more efficiently.
Prerequisite: Deadly Aim or Power Attack.
Benefit: Whenever you use the Deadly Aim or Power Attack feat, you may choose to gain 2 profane points. If you do, you become suffused with dark murderous energy that turns you into a veritable killing machine. This has two effects: first, the bonus to damage granted by the feat you are using is doubled. Second, you cannot choose not to use the feat when making attack rolls and must make at least one attack per round against a living creature. These effects last for 1 minute.
Fell Resolve
When at death’s door, you are best able to draw upon the forces of the nether world to keep you alive and fighting, opening yourself to the dark spirits and evil magic to animate your still-living flesh.
Prerequisite: Diehard.
Benefit: Whenever you are at 0 or fewer hit points, you may choose to gain 1 profane point. If you do, you cannot be reduced below your negative Constitution score in hit points and gain immunity to death effects and spells, such as power word kill or the monk’s quivering palm ability, until the beginning of your next turn. Any damage that would cause you to have more negative hit points than your Constitution score is negated during this time.
The Dark One’s Luck
In desperate situations you call upon the dark one, a fiend of immeasurable power, and say prayers unto him in order to gain a portion of his luck.
Prerequisite: Great Fortitude, or Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes.
Benefit: Whenever you fail a saving throw, you may choose to gain 1 profane point. If you do, immediately reroll the saving throw with a +8 profane bonus. You do not automatically fail this saving throw on a result of a natural 1.
Weaponmaster of the Doomed Legion
You have sold your soul for conscription in the doomed legion, willing to spend your afterlife toiling in the armies of an unknown hell in exchange for sudden bursts of immense weapon skill.
Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (any).
Benefit: As a swift action, you may choose to gain 1 profane point. If you do, you gain a +1 profane bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls with the weapon for which you have Weapon Focus for 1 minute. This bonus increases by an additional +1 for each of the following feats you possess for the same weapon: Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, and Weapon Specialization.
Whispers from Beyond
You have become a master of your craft through following the tutelage of voices from beyond the mortal realm, though you know not the source of their profane mutterings.
Prerequisite: Skill Focus (any).
Benefit: Whenever you would make a skill check for a skill for which you have the Skill Focus feat, you may choose to gain any number of profane points. If you do, you automatically succeed at the skill check if it has a DC equal to or less than 10 times the number of profane points gained this way. If the number of profane points you gained is not enough to overcome the DC of the skill check, you may still attempt the check at your normal bonus.